Liberty Van Zandt
Liberty Van Zandt is a character on the TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation. She is played by Sarah Barrable-Tishauer. Background Liberty lives at home with her parents and younger brother Danny. She is often seen as a know-it-all, and tends to get jealous easily. Her best friends are Manny and Emma, but she and Emma had a love/hate relationship. Life at Degrassi 2001-2002 (Seventh Grade) Liberty first appeared in the third episode. She was running for student council secretary, and was an avid supporter of Ashley in her bid for presidency. She also found herself in the middle of a controversy when Emma saw Mr. Armstrong getting close to her. Emma believed that Armstrong was abusing Liberty. When she told Manny, Terri happened to overhear the conversation. Eventually, the rumor spread all over the school. As it turns out, Liberty had dyscalculia, a learning disability affecting her ability to learn math. Armstrong was only tutoring her. Liberty asked Ashley to let her to the morning announcements. Ashley refused, but eventually gave in. However, she set it all up so Liberty would be humiliated on camera. When it actually happened, Ashley regretted it deeply. She found Liberty crying in the bathroom, and gave her another, and better, chance. When Liberty did well, Ashley promised to let her do the announcments from now on. This was also the year she developed a crush on J.T., much to his chagrin. No matter what he did, Liberty refused to give up her pursuit of J.T. 2002-2003 (Eighth Grade) Liberty's eighth grade year was nowhere near as hectic as her previous year. The biggest obstacle she had to overcome was when she was named captain of the girls' floor hockey team. She was very over-bearing, and her attitude drove away nearly all the members on the team. She also showed her jealously when Emma won the school's science fair. After finding out that Emma's mother was dating Mr. Simpson, Liberty demanded that Emma give up the trophy, as she felt that she was the rightful winner of the competition. Simpson later said that all the judges unanimously agreed that Emma's was the best. 2003-2004 (Freshman Year) After years of trying to get J.T., she finally gave up and decided to look for a new boyfriend. She decided to go for Sean. Liberty tried everything, even dressing up in what she considered to be "tough" clothes. This lead to Sean calling her "as edgy as a butter knife." Saddened, Liberty felt that she would never find a boyfriend. Sean approached her and informed her that one of his friends, Towerz, had a crush on Liberty. The two began dating, although they were never seen interacting on-camera. 2004-2005 (Sophomore Year) At the beginning of the year, Liberty revealed that she and Towerz had broken up over the summer. She then began to set her eyes on the newly-single Chris Sharpe. When Emma found out, she tried to win Chris back, saying that it would ruin her reputation if Chris began dating Liberty after her. When she found out, Liberty dismissed Emma and it appeared the two would no longer be friends. Single once again, Liberty decided to try one more time to get J.T. After working together on a school play, the two realized that they both loved each other, and soon became a couple. They remained together for the rest of the year. 2005-2006 (Junior Year) Still with J.T., Liberty was keeping a secret from him. It was revealed when the two had an argument one day while driving to school. Apparently, Liberty had gotten pregnant by J.T. When he learned that Liberty was going to keep the baby, he did everything he could to earn money so he could support it. Unfortunately, he turned to selling drugs. When Liberty found out about this, she broke up with him. It was made worse when J.T. tried to kill himself. Liberty told him she was going to give the baby up for adoption. After the baby's birth and subsequent adoption, Liberty began to feel depressed. She was left wondering if she had made the right choice about giving the baby up or not. 2006-2007 (Senior Year) After having a rough previous year, Liberty hoped that her senior year would be the best year of her life. That changed when Mia Jones and her daughter Isabella moved to Degrassi. J.T., who Liberty still had feelings for, started dating Mia. In a fit of jealousy, she told Mia about everything J.T. did to her the previous year. However, J.T. was able to straighten everything out with Mia. On Liberty's eighteenth birthday, Manny and Emma threw a party for her. Via word of mouth, hundreds of people, including Drake Lempky and Johnny DiMarco from Lakehurst, showed up. At the party, Liberty confessed to J.T. her true feelings for her. When he didn't respond favorably, she ran off. After talking to Toby, J.T. sought out Liberty. Sadly, he was stabbed by Drake, and Liberty was the one who found him dying. She was at the hospital when everyone found out he had passed away. After J.T.'s funeral, Liberty, in an emotional tailspin, developed feelings for Toby. She also refused to have Mia participate in anything honoring J.T. But after Toby revealed to Mia that J.T. still liked Liberty, she had a change of heart and agreed to let Mia do what she wanted. During the second semester of Liberty's senior year, Lakehurst burned down and the Lakehurst students integrated into Degrassi. After breaking up a fight between her brother Danny and a Lakehurst student (later revealed to be Lucas), Lucas taunts Liberty by saying that J.T. asked for his death. This sends Liberty into a rage, only to have the fight broken up by Spinner. Towards the end of her senior year, Liberty and Emma's boyfriend Damian find that they're attracted to each other, although Liberty feels guilty because she is Emma's friend. At prom, Liberty and Damian sneak off together and make out. Manny sees them sneak off, and privately confronts Liberty. Toby, who openly likes Liberty, loudly says "Oh, I won't tell anyone that Liberty and Damian fooled around and now he's bragging about it.". Emma is angry and dumps Damian, and at graduation, Toby, Emma, and Manny are angry at Liberty also. They forgive her after she gives her valedictorian speech about the importance of friendship, and decide that they don't want to throw away six years of friendship. After the graduation ceremony is over, the four of them stand at the J.T. Yorke Memorial Zen Garden and Toby places a graduation cap on it. Van Zandt, Liberty Relationships *Trey "Towerz" Hightower **Start Up: "Accidents Will Happen, Part 2" (315) **Broke Up: Summer before "Ghost In The Machine, Part 1" (401) ***Reason: Unexplained. *J.T. Yorke **First Relationship ***Start Up: "Voices Carry, Part 2" (412) ***Broke Up: "Foolin'" (504) ****Reason: Liberty is too controlling. **Second Relationship ***Start Up: "Turned Out, Part 1" (507) ***Broke Up: "Turned Out, Part 2" (508) ****Reason: J.T. attempts suicide by overdosing on oxycodone.